Twenty-six dreams in the collection express themes of admiration and identification with the sitting president. In the previous chapter we looked at dreams of conflict with paternal and patriarchal authority, and in this one – we see that dreamers who approve and identify with Trump in their sleep are similarly possessed by a positive, idealizing paternal transference, Trump as the object of their fatherly admiration:

Donald Trump was my father. And I was his pet like Ivanka, and I wanted his approval. He was taking me somewhere on air force one. Like he was bestowing favors upon me. ~ Anonymous

I just had a dream that Trump was my dad and gave me a tour if Air Force One! Talking about making dreams great again![i]

I literally just had a dream this morning that President Trump is my dad. It was a good dream, I woke up happy. Thank you for allowing God to work through you to be a good Father to this Nation and caring for everyone so well.[ii]

I wore my USA sweatshirt to bed and dreamed that Donald Trump and I rode bikes around town followed by him resolving a fight btwn my brother and I[iii]

Other dreamers see themselves as the object of Trump’s approval and admiration and they bask in it:

Dreamed I met Donald Trump in a shopping center. His first words to me were, “You are an exceptional historian.”[iv]

Last night I had a dream. Trump has visited us on Christmas. When he saw our Christmas tree, he spoke: “Biggest Christmas tree ever! So great! So fabulous! Well done. So Great!” “Thank you Mr. President!”[v]

Some feel vicarious power as they imagine themselves swimming with the sharks:

My dad had a dream of swimming in the sea with Donald Trump[vi]

Several dreamers identify with the president so strongly that the boundaries between self and other are erased: An empowered Trump becomes their own reflection in the mirror. Identities blur and are subsumed as the president and the dreamer merge into narcissistic extensions of the other.

Had a dream last night that I was President of the USA! Not surprisingly my presidency mirrored that of Donald trump! Dreams don’t lie so I know he’s doing a great job! So here’s to you #potus! You’re doing a GREAT JOB! Keep it up![vii]

Capturing “selfies” with the president consolidates the blurring and merger of identities.

Last night I had a dream that I went to a movie and Donald Trump sat in the seat next to me and even took a selfie with me. I honestly have no clue how to interpret it.[viii]

I had a dream that I got a selfie with trump but he had to take it on a special secret service phone so he couldn’t text it to me so he was just going to tweet it and I didn’t want this[ix]

I had a dream last night that people kept mistaking me for Donald Trump Jr. … I don’t know what that means.[x]

It is clear that the  pleasure that is found in these fantasies draws on dominance and yearnings for inflated status:

I had a dream that trump son in law brought the Detroit Lions, it would be great seeing trump sticking it to the liberals at ESPN “make the motor city great again”[xi]

Had a dream I saw Donald trump on a beach and I chest bumped just so I could make a facebook status about it[xii]

I had imagined that when I sat down to sort through the dreams and psyche’s of Trump’s admirers that I would find some deep personal stake in the oppressive policies he has advocated – instead, I found something far simpler and more primal: the simple, childlike need to admire and be admired by an all-powerful authority figure. Nothing more coherent or complex than the need to plug a hole left empty, a daddy-hunger seeking satiation.

I had the oddest dream that I met President Trump last night on a golf course. I kept thinking that I needed to find some wise, pithy statement to tell him that sums up everything that I feel about what has been going on but I couldn’t condense into a coherent sentence. So I just stood there as if I was star struck. That’s pretty the way it would actually play out.[xiii]

 

[i] @Winenetintl

[ii] @IwantAmiracle

[iii] @gurdyhub

[iv] @joshuasolowey

[v] @RichardLorisch

[vi] @CharlieDPike

[vii] @rocnhog1

[viii] @gsteen43

[ix] @keriganfabery

[x] @taylorweston

[xi] @youlostme2017

[xii] @badandbundy

[xiii] @GoogieBaba